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NASHVILLE: 

G. C. TORBETT & CO., PRINTERS 

18 5 7. 



T O THE 

MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE 

OF TENNESSEE. 



The following articles originally appeared as communications in the Nashville 
Union and Amekican. They are from the pen of a gentleman of eminent liter- 
ary, social, and moral position. The attention of the writer — "A Lover of Na- 
TtTRE" in all its forms of use and beauty — had long been painfully attracted to 
the wanton, useless, and wicked destruction of the game and fish of our noble 
State, and to the necessity of the interference of the law-making power 
while there was yet time to prevent the entire depopulation of our forests and 
streams. These articles were prepared by him in the hasty and careless man- 
ner of newspaper communications, for the purpose of arousing public attention 
to the subject, and with no thought of their appearing in any other form. Their 
appearance, however, attracted marked and general attention throughout the 
State, and evidences of approval of their object flowed in upon the publishers 
from every quarter. They are now collected together and published in pamphlet 
form by a number of gentlemen, themselves also "Lovers of Nature," for 
the purpose of presenting the subject to the Members of the Legislature of Ten- 
nessee, and asking from them such protection, by law, of the fishes and game of 
Tennessee as the exigencies of the case demand. 

To you, then, gentlemen of the Legislature of Tennessee, we appeal for the 
protection of the fish and game of the State. Its destruction, by many of the 
modes at present employed, is as useless as it is wasteful and wicked. The law 
only can prevent tliis waste of God's best bounties and beauties. And for its 
interposition will ever pray 

YOUR CONSTITUENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTORY — THE BIRDS OF TENNESSEE — FISH : THEIR HABITS. 

I HAVE been thinking for years that something could and 
ought to be done for the protection of game in our beautiful 
country. Unless steps are soon taken in the matter, we will wake 
up to the subject when it is too late ; for the fish are fast failing 
in the smaller streams, and the birds are being swept from our 
fields and woods; while if proper steps were taken at present, 
in ten years Tennessee would be one of the most interesting 
countries for game in the world. The thousands ot small 
streams that thread our country in every direction, are every 
way suitable for the raising of fish, and in point of latitude we 
have the advantage of all countries either north or south of us. 
If you go far south of us, the water in the small streams be- 
comes too warm and unhealthy during the summer months ; 
and further north there is too much frost in the winter and the 
raising season is too short. So that ours is the very latitude 
for the multiplication and growth of the finny tribe. 

As to birds, Tennessee ought to be the home of the birds. We 
have the finest forests in the world, which are their natural 
homes. In prairie countries, nothing could be done to protect 
them long; but in Tennessee, nothing but a wicked abuse of 
this blessing of heaven will drive them from our fields and for- 
ests, while a very little protection would soon make this country 
the land of birds. 

With respect to fish, it is known to all who have thought on 
the subject at all, that the small streams are nurseries of fish, 
and that if they are driven from the creeks and branches, or 
destroyed, they will soon fail in the large streams. It is for 
spawning or raising purposes that they ascend the small streams 
in the spring of the year, and it is the mother fish that ferret 
their way up these small branches till they find quiet, soft wa- 
ter, gently warmed by the sun; here they deposit their spawn 
and watch it for a while, during what is called the cerculing 



6 

season ; here the parent fish, with a mother's vigilance, hangs 
around the spot where the egg is deposited, untd the spawn 
comes forth. This is the habit of almost all of our game fish, 
viz : oar river salmon, jack fish, pike, valley trout, goggle-eye 
perch, silver perch, brim and channel cat, with a great variety 
of smaller fish. The red horse and different varieties of suck- 
ers also ran up into very small streams, but don't remain to 
watch their spawn ; yet the small streams supply the large ones 
with fish of this description also. The buflfalo, drum and mud 
or yellow cat, do not run up the small streams, but confine 
themselves for the purpose of raising their young to small riv- 
ers or large creeks, or extensive bars or shallows in the naviga- 
ble streams. 

I shall in my next notice the abuses by which the fish have 
been well nigh destroyed or driven fi*om our streams. 



CHAPTER II. 

HEAR AND THEN JUDGE SITUATION OF TENNESSEE AS REGARDS THE 

REPRODUCTION OF FISH WHITE PERCH. 

It may be necessary before proceeding further, for me to be- 
speak the forbearance of those who may be opposed to my 
views, until they hear me through. No matter what changes 
may be presented to the public, some person will be found who 
is ready to conclude that his rights are infringed, or his liber- 
ties are endangered. We will say just here, and for all, that we 
propose to take away no privilege from any that we would not 
lake from all, and the rights granted to one we would grant to 
all. 

The game of the country, whether of fish or fowl, is a com- 
Hion blessing and should be so regarded. I do not ask that indi- 
viduals should ^05^, either their lands or streams, but that mea- 
sures be taken to prevent a cruel destruction or wanton waste 
of the game of the country ; for should the practices that have 
obtained in this country be continued much longer, there will 
be neither fish nor fowl left. 

Those sections of this Union connected with the ocean or 
gulf, or large lakes, or inland seas, may be regarded, so far at 
least as the fish are concerned, protected by nature ; the creeks 
are wide, and lakes large, and low lands abundant, so that the 
fish will multiply in spile of the power of the destroyer. But 



the situation of Tennessee ia very different ; we are wholly de- 
pendant upon our rivers, creeks and brooks, or branches, and 
being a long way from the Gulf, were our fish once de.s;troyed, 
the re-supplying of our streams would be a difficult task. In 
the old world, and especially in some portions of France, the 
public mind was not awakened upon this subject until their 
streams were found to be without an inhabitant. Though they 
have taken measures now for a re-supply, and have passed pro- 
tection laws on the subject, it would have been much better had 
they thought, and acted, before their varieties were all destroyed, 
and while there was still a sufficient number of fish in their 
streams to have refitted them. 

I am happy to say of Tennessee that all of our original vari- 
eties of fish remain, but one, which is the black perch, and lam 
not sure but a few of them may yet be met with in the upper 
branches of the Tennessee river; but if it should be certain 
that this variety is now extinct, we have made a gain of one 
variety by the introduction of the white or silver perch, which 
have made their way from the lakes through the canals into 
the Ohio, and are now to be found in quite a number ol our 
western streams, and if protected would more than supply the 
loss of the black perch. But there is no fish that requires pro- 
tection more than this one. From the fact that they never dis- 
tribute themselves throughout the stream generally, as many 
other kinds do, but are always found in shoals, and preferring, 
as they do, still and shallow water, one single seine in an hour 
would destroy a whole family, and depupulate a small stream, 
but if properly protected they would be of great value, being 
a very delicate and excellent pan fish, and exceedingly prolific. 

I shall not be able in this number to reach the point promised 
in my last, viz: the modes of destruction hitherto practiced in 
this country, but I will try and reach it in my next. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE RIVEES OF TENNESSEE PERMANENT FISH MIGRATORY FISH 

HABITS OF THE CAT-FISH. 

In my last, I argued that the location of the State of Tennes- 
see is such in regaid to oceans, lakes nn<\ bays, that unless some- 
thing be done at once for the protection of fish, that it will soon 
be too late; but there are still enough left in our waters for a 



8 

re-supply — at any rate, this is true of a large number of our 
streams. The small streams that form the Tennessee river, 
have still a few fish in them ; though the two Pigeons and the 
French Broad, all of which teemed with fish of the finest qual- 
itj^, are now almost exhausted. The two Holstons are in a bet- 
ter condition, and Clinch and Chucky rivers are still talked of 
by anglers, though the present systematic course of destruction 
will soon leave their waters without an inhabitant. Streams 
emptying in lower down have not suffered so much ; the lower 
portions of Elk and Duck rivers are pretty well supplied. But 
creeks and branches by the hundred, where multitudes of the 
finny tribe were once found, are now lelt desolate and forsaken. 
The Cumberland and its branches are in a still worse condition 
than the Tennessee river. Aged men, who were among the 
early settlers of this country, who knew these streams when 
teeming thousands of fish played on the shallows or crowded 
the eddies, talk of the astonishing changes that have taken 
place, and seem to lament them, but have forgotten how they 
contributed to the destruction which has left these streams nearly 
desolate. 

There are many persons, no doubt, who engage in those 
wasteful, destructive practices, and condemn it at the same time, 
but justify themselves by saying: If I do not get a few w^hile 
they are going they will soon all be gone, any how ; I only 
want to get my share while they are going. 

The fish were made by the Almighty for the use and benefit 
of man, and blest with prolific powers sufficient to furnish an 
abundant supply for all, if it were not for the destructive mea- 
sures which have been devised and practiced by those for whose 
benefit they were created. 

It may be that the public generally have not given the sub- 
ject the consideration it deserves, which is the best apology that 
we can make for them. The habits of the fish ought to be first 
understood, and then we would more clearly see how they have 
been destroyed and how they may be protected. On this point 
I would just observe, that there are some kinds that settle them- 
selves permanently, or nearly so, while others move semi-annu- 
ally. The Bass or Pound Trout, as they are sometimes called, 
the Silver Perch, the Pike, the Red-Eyed Sun Perch, the Goggle 
Eyed, the Brim, together with a variety of small Perch, called 
the Yellow Belly, do not in general travel much. Here let me 
say, lest I forget it hereafter, to those who are disposed to make 
fish ponds, for the purpose of raising fit^h, that they will have 
to rely on a selection from this variety. Keep out the Catfish : 
they are great consumers and of but little value when raised. 

The Buffalo, the Drum, the Redhorse, ths Jack-fish, the fresh 



9 

water Salmon, with the different kinds of Suckers, all move 
twice a year ; the Buffalo and Suckers are the greatest travel- 
ers. The Black Scaly Trout, also belong to this class. The Eel 
has well nigh passed away from the western waters, and the 
same may be said of the river Sturgeon, though there may be 
still enough of them both left to rai.«e from. The Catfish is to be 
found in all the western waters. They are very prolific, fine 
swimmers, great eaters, less timid than other fish, wonderfully 
tenacious of life, and need protection less than any other kind 
of fish, if it be right to call them fish. The variety of the Cat- 
fish is so great that I cannot notice that point now ; they 
seem to have gone through a great number of additions and 
crosses. 



CHAPTER IV. 

H.iBITS OF MIGRATORY FISH THE HSII TRAP THE FRENCH 

BROAD RIVER RESULTS AND TENDENCIES OF THE FISH 

TRAP. 

In my last I showed something of the habits of fish, which 
will open to the mind of any, a view of the instruments of 
destruction, and also what will have to be done for protection. 

The migrating fish, as we have before stated, move twice 
in the year, viz: Spring and Fall. Th«y ascend in the Spring 
for the purpose of spawning, and raising their young, and 
return in the Fall of the year, or at the approach of cold 
weather, to spend the winter in deeper water. Some kinds 
ascend a considerable distance, while others only go up to the 
first fiat, bar, or little neck or pool of water suited to their 
purpose, though all of the migrating class move enough to 
expose themselves to the dangers of the fish traps, as they are 
called, which is the first instrument of destruction that wc 
shall take in hand. 

The fish trap has, no doubt, done more to either destroy or 
drive out the fish from all broad shallow streams in our State 
than anything else, particularly the migiatory kind. Take 
the French Broad as an instance. It is one of the most beau- 
tiful streams in the world, and every way suitable for raising 
fish in great quantities. It is too shallow, clear and broad for 
seines, and the hook and gig would only be able to thin them 
out enough to make them thrive. But you will find a fish 



10 

trap every h;ilf mile almost, and such has been the effect of 
these tr;i[)3 that the fish are almost entirely destroyed or 
driven out, so that when you ask some dweller on the banks 
of that beautiful stream, with regard to the fish, he answers: 
*' there aii't none here," — "they're all gone." And the French 
Broad is not a solitary case ; many other streams are nearly in 
a like condition. 

The fish trap is often so constructed as to catch the fish, 
both as they ascend and descend, and you will find them so 
completely adapted to the purpose, that at a proper stage of 
water every fi:<h that attempts to pass is caught. 

It will be found from an examination of the character of 
this destroyer '"that it is a perfect monopoly." A man finds a 
suitable place on the creek or river, as the case may be, where 
he puts in Ids trap, and at once takes possession of all the fish 
in the stream for miles above and below, or at least to the next 
suitable place for a trap. If there is anything like a supply of 
fish in tlie stream, he catches them in great waste, and in 
many instances where there is no extensive market near, no 
use can be made of them. The owner of the trap watches it 
for a few nights, until his family is supplied, and then no fur- 
ther attention is paid to it, and the fi.-h come filing up in the 
trap by the liundred, to lie there and rot, or be devoured by 
rnuskrats, minks, racoons and buzzards. It is truly distress- 
ing to look at one of these traps, around which are to be found 
bu.shels ol bones, where large and fine fi.-h have been left to be 
devoured, as above stated, or decay; and, in many instances, 
you will find that the rnuskrats, minks and other animals have 
become so attached to the trap that the owner himself gets no 
fish, unless he sets upon the trap and watches it, for he is no 
sooner out of sight, than these animals are watching for him, 
and are at the traps eating and devouring the fish, and they 
become so troublesome, that the owner at last gives up the 
trap and leaves it to the rnuskrats, minks, ants, snakes and 
buzzards. The effect of the fish trap is, first to surfeit the 
owner for a day or two with fish, till ull are disgusted with cat, 
drum, buffalo and red horse, but still the destroyer is in the 
stream, and the destruction is going on for weeks, until fish 
enough is destroyed to have supplied a county for a month. 
This is a reckless, cruel, and, I think, wicked waste of the 
bounty of a gracious God to our common humanity, and ought 
not to be allowed. 

The tendencies of these traps are first to prevent the fish 
from ascending in the spring to such localities as are suitable 
for rai-ing purposes. They are either caught by traps or 
■arrested by the dams, and should the water rise high enough 



11 

for them to pass over in the spring, they will be sure of them 
in the fall. It often happens that before the object for which 
the fish ascends is accomplished, viz: the spawning' and watch- 
ing the spawn until hatched, the waters become so low that 
they cannot descend, and they are forced to take shelter in 
some deep pool of nater in the neighborhood of theif spawn, 
but in the fall, at the first little rise in the stream, all move at 
once down the stream for deep water, as their winter quarters ; 
then it is that a wholesale slaughter is made by these traps. 

Now after stopping long enough to look at this subject a lit- 
tle, in its true light, will any one think, for a moment, that he 
ought to put such a destroyer in a stream ? If so, he enter- 
tains very different views from the writer. I enjoy a mess of 
fish occasionally, but I owe it to my children, my neighbors 
and my country, not to drive out or destroy all the fi>h Irom 
our streams. This is only one of many modes of destruction, 
which will, in due time, be brought to notice. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE SEINE SEINING IN HARPETH RIVER. 

In my last I showed something of the destructive nature of 
fijih-traps, on the fish in our streams, and promised in my next 
to notice the seine and dip net. The fish-trap is no doubt the 
most destructive mode of fishing, as it regards those fish that 
move to a considerable distance up and down the stream, while 
the seine is the great destroyer of those fish that locate them- 
selves, and become resident fish. One thing that makes the 
seine so objectionable is the particular season of the year in 
which seining is done, which is generally June and July. Be- 
fore that time the water in the stream is too cold, and generally 
too flush. Well: what are the facts in the case ? In the first 
place, the weather is too hot to save fish for any length of time, 
so that in general the fish that are caught become tainted be- 
fore they can be got into the pan. In the nextplace, the water 
in the stream becomes warm and stagnant, so that the fish are 
unhealthy, and consequently unfit for food ; and further, if the 
water was pure enough to keep them sound and healthy, the 
fish themselves are in the mid.>t of their nursing season, and 
not suitable for food on that account. 



12 

Now, that the reader may have this subject before him in a 
form that will be readily understood, I will give an instance : 
Some time since I was on board a boat that came to at the 
mouth of Harpelh, on the Cumberla'^d River, in order to take 
on board .i number of gentlemen who had come down to Har- 
peth from Nashville and its vicinity, for the purpose of seining. 
I should think there were about twenty persons in the company. 
They had a seine that cost them, as well as I recollect, about 
one hundred and thirty dollars, and had been out three or four 
days. I soon fell in with the fishermen, having a fondness for 
the sport myself. I found they had just six iish with them, all 
Buffaloes. The Buffalo fish will resist taint longer than any 
fish we have, owing to the fact no doubt that they are covered 
with a very large thick scale that resists the atmosphere. On 
asking, " are these all you caught ?" in answer they said : " we 
caught lots and gobs," and in the course of conversation, I 
learned these facts : They went to the stream at the head of a 
long and deep pool of water, and put in the seine, it being long 
enough to reach across the stream, and dragged it down some 
two or three hundred yards at least, to the lower end of the 
deep water, and came to shore with about eleven hundred fine 
fish, which they drew out on the sand. The day was very 
warm, the process of drawing the seine was very slow and very 
laboriou:^, and by this time the day was far spent, and so wrts 
the strength of the seiners. 

Measures had been taken to make themselves comfortable; 
a camp had to be pitched, dry clothes, rest and food were indis- 
pensable, which took the whole of the night, and by morning 
their fish were all spoiled. But still they were determined to 
have fish, so they moved a half mile lower down the stream to 
another deep hole of water, and di'ew their seine through it, 
and caught about twelve hundred fine fish. Now to make sure 
of these they took small ropes and bark, which they run through 
the gills of the fish, and attempted to tow them down the stream 
to the mouth ; but the process drowned the fish, and the length 
and heat of the day was too great, so the whole lot, with the 
exception of the six mentioned above, were spoiled, and they 
were in rather a doubtful state. I suppose the gentlemen did not 
get one fish home with them in a sound state, so that some 
twenty-two or three hundred fine fish were hauled out on the 
Band to rot, hundreds of them large jack and trout, 
with a quantity of red horse and buffalo. I suppose there 
must have been at least eight thousand pounds ot fine food 
destroyed — say two thousand dollars worth. Now this is no 
Bolitary case ; it is about a specimen of seine fishing id our 
country ; and if the loss of fish taken was all it would not be 



13 

so bad, but they take the mother fifh away from their spawn 
and leave the spawn to be destroyed, ?o that the destruction ia 
wholesale, and unless there is some protection for the fi:»h in 
our small streams there will not be a fish left. But if proper 
measures be taken there will soon be fish enough in our waters 
to supply the wants of all. More on this subject in my next. 



CHAPTER VI. 

SEINING, CONTINUED THE DIP-NET. 

I PROMISED in my last to say something more on the subject 
of seining. I regard the seine and dip-net among the fruitful 
destroyers of the fish in small streams. Take a single case in 
the county of Robertson. About five miles of a small stream 
have been posted for some two or three years only. Before 
this step was taken, it was with ditHculty that a fish could be 
found in the bounds large enough for the pan, and the protec- 
tion only extends to that of seine and dip-nets, and what is the 
result? The angling is now decidedly good — the s-tream seems 
to be well supplied, and at any time in an hour, a sufficient 
number of fine trout and perch may be taken with hook and 
line, to furnish a meal for a large family — while the large fish 
are caught out, giving the small ones a better chance to grow. 

Catching the fish "with a seine at the time that it is done gen- 
erally, is a violation of the intentions and provisions of Provi- 
dence, from the fact that the time selected by seiners is gener- 
ally June and July, which is the spawning and raising season, 
and it is complete destruction to take the mother fish from 
watching her spawn at that time, and the fish themselves not 
suitable for food, being lean and unhealthy, because of the 
warm slate of the weather, together with other natural causes. 
To make the point so plain that the reader shall not fail to un- 
derstand me, I would say, you had just as well kill for the table 
a sitting hen or partridge off her nest. And that the fish might 
be protected while in this state, God has so constituted them that 
they will not bite during this period, so that they are safe so 
far as the angler is concerned, unless the live bait, minnow or 
craw-fish, as the case may be, should be thrown within their 
circle, so as to endanger their eggs ; in that case they will seize 
the bait to bear it off. At that moment they are sometimes 
taken with a hook, but if let alone a few seconds they will, when 



H 

they have gone a sufRcient distance from their spawn, cast the 
bait, hook and all out of their mouth, During thi:^ nursing 
season we have no evidence that the molher fish takes any solid 
food. Anglers sometimes at that season take the male fish, 
though it is a very unsuccessful season of the year for the angler. 
But this is the very period in which the seine and the dip-net 
do their mischief. The fish are feeble and less timid than at 
other times, being like all other parents, bold when their younr; 
are in danger; and they are lurther exposed from the fact thi^t 
they select water which is comparatively shallow, that the sun 
may aid in hatching the egg. 

Now, is it not too bad that we should take advantage of thia 
particular period, and go with seine and dip-net and catch all 
the parent fish, and leave the e^gs to be eaten up by Irogs, 
turtle and craw-fish, and thus in a few days entirely drain a beau- 
tiful stream of a year's supply of fish? 

A gentleman informed me ihe other day, that in a little pool 
of water in a small stream, produced by a slight dam which had 
been thrown across in order to raise the water so as to move a 
wheel to hoist water into a tan-yard, 250 parent trout had been 
taken by a seine. The fish had stopped in this quiet, soft wa- 
ter, some three feet deep, to raise their young. Had they been 
let alone for twelve months, they would have completely 
stocked the creek, but a long seine took them all out at once. 
The day was hot and sunny, th'i fish poor and thin, and in all 
probability before they could getthem home and oiepare them 
for the pan, they were spoiletl ; and at any rate the man with 
the seine had no right to all the fish in the creek, and had they 
been his own he would not have caught so many at once, and 
blasted his prospects of ever getting any more. Such things 
ought not to be allowed. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE EACK — THE BUSH-DRAQ THE SET-NET. 

In my last two numbers I showed some of the evil effects of 
seine and dip net fishing. In this number I shall pay my re- 
spects to the raclr, bush-drag and set-net. 

The rack fishing is but seldom resorted to, and it may be 
necessary that I give a description of it. A number of racks 
are made, generally about twelve feet in length, and eight feet 



15 

in width, and linked together with ropes, until they will reach 
acro!?9 the stream; and where the bottom of the t?tream is suit- 
able, they take every fi-h that is not sin;ill enough to pa^ig 
through the bars of the rack. But i is so difRculi to titul a 
Buiiable ydace for this mode of fishing, and the whole allair 
is attended with so much trouble, exposure, and ev^n dan- 
ger, that I do not suppose that the rack will ever come into 
general use, though the same objectmn may be urged against 
the rack that can be brought against seines and dip-net-;, ex- 
cept that they do not drag so many small fish out on the sand 
to die. As the racks are difficult to keep to the bottom of the 
stream, very liable to become foui, or to be upset by the cur- 
rent, it requires a number of persons, about one lor each rack; 
and as the operation is slow and heavy, persons often coiitinue 
in the water until they become exhausted, so tliat a number of 
persons have been drown.' d by the Uj)>etting of the racks, 
while others have si^keneii and died ironi the exposure And 
whde I grant that there are not a great number ot fish de- 
stroyed by this mode of fishing, yet as it will not pav for the 
trouble, and is very hazardous withal, it woidd be a blessintj to 
discontinue it. I will here state one single fact for the advan- 
tage of those who may not have thought on the subject — just 
let the rack be drawn through any poo! of water duiini; the 
day, and all the fish that are not resid nt tish will lea\e the 
following night, if it be possible for them to get out, ^tnd drop 
lower down the stream. Let the racks be abandoned. 

The bush-drag, which is resorted to by bi ys and negroes on 
Sundays, is an exceedingly de-tructive mode of fi^mng. It 
bears every thing before and in it, am a- (hev are, generally, 
imperfectly landed, if we take into the a< count the ^mall fish 
that are either borne out on the sand by the beam that goes 
before the drag, together with the number that bec<(me entan- 
gled in the limhs and die, I should think ten are destroyed for 
•very one that is taken. This mode ol fishing ought not to be 
allowed. 

As to the set-net, w'hich is generally placed at the mouths of 
small streams, and is a very suc( es-lul plan of fi-hing. nothing 
can be said against this mode of fishin'j[, on account of the sea- 
son of the \ear or con rition of the fish. Yet I leel a strong 
opposition to the set net, from the fact that it is a monopoly of 
the most exclusive character. i he man who owns th< mouth 
of the creek takes posses^ion of all the fish in it. and will in 
two or three years depopulate the stream entirely ot all mL^ra- 
ting fish, for, notwithstanding the fish run up the small streams 
on the rise of water for the purpose of feening ar^d breathing, 
as they cannot breathe well in muddy water, yet the eaine iisk 



16 

that ascend the stream one time to deposit their spawn, go up 
at another lime to feed ; so that you may, by the use of a set- 
net, at the mouth of a small stream, as the water runs out on 
the fall of the large stream, catch all the parent and spawning 
fish that belong to the small stream, and reduce it to utter de- 
stitution, while other small streams in the neighborhood may 
still have a supply of fish. No good neighbor, we think, if he 
understand the facts as they are, would so cut off" all the sup- 
ply fi'om those about him, and ultimately blast his own pros- 
pects for a mess ; and as a set-net costs from one to two hun- 
dred dollars, the outfit is too expensive for the poor. I know 
that I should not calmly submit to have a set-net at the mouth 
of a stream on which I might live. Let us away with all such 
wholesale methods of fishing, and give ail a chance to get a 
few fish, in the first place, and not destroy the seed, so that we 
may have a mess next year also. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

POISONING FISH EXPERBIENTS IN FRANCE A CASE NEAR NASH- 
VILLE HABITS OF GAME FISH THE STREAMS OF TENNESSEE. 

In my last I laid before the reader a few thoughts with re- 
spect to the destructive nature of racks, bush-drags, and set- 
nets. We will now turn the attention of the public to the va- 
rious systems of poisoning. 

There is already a statute against the use of India berries, 
but it is pretty much a dead letter, from the fact that no great 
advantage could be gained by enforcing the law on that point, 
while so many other destructive practices are allowed : and if 
India berries were not to be used, the evil would not be reme- 
died, from the fact that quite a number of poisons have been 
discovered and used. Green buckeyes, mashed up and thrown 
into the water where it is quiet, will kill the fish in a very few 
minutes. Green walnuts will have the same efiect, and the 
smart weed, as it is called, will also kill the fish. 

Three or four boys with baskets, supplied with buckeyes, 
walnuts or smart weed, will go into a pool of water, and by 
churning about through the water for half an hour, v/ill poison 
all the fish in the hole, great and small, and one woidd think 
the fish, if they eat them, would in turn poison the boys. And I 
have in a few instances known men, grown men, to be guilty of 



17 . 

thu? poisoning fish. It really seems tome that we in this country 
have put ourselves to work to see how completely, effactually, 
and wantonly we could destroy all the fish out of our streams. 
F.sh-traps, seines, dip-nets, racks, bush-drags, set-nets, and 
what they leave are strangled with poison. Will we su%r 
without an effort at exposure this stale of things to con- 
tinue, until, like large portions of the old world, and France in 
particular, there is not a fish left in our waters ? Though 
France, at present, is importing spawn or fish eggs from other 
countries, and guarding and protecting the fish by law, audit 
is likely by the time our fish are all destroyed or driven out, 
they will have their rivers and streams well supplied. 

In this poisoning process, if an individual was only to poison 
a few fish at a time, just what he could eat, and was to eat 
them and poison himself, it would not be so bad; but in an 
hour he poisons hu^idreds, yes, sometimes, taking the small 
fish into account, thousands, while a half dozen is as many as 
come within his reach or drift to shore. Take a case : A gen- 
tleman within a few miles of the city of Nashville made him- 
self a pond, miinly (or the purpose of cutting ice from it in the 
winter; but, finding it remained over summer, deep, cold and 
clear, he put himself to no little trouble to procure a l:ne vari- 
ety of fi h to raise from, and left them some three years to 
multiply until the angling became splendid ; but some boys 
came at last, and not being j-repared for angling, they gathered 
buckeyes, beat them up, and churned them about the pcad, 
and then waited until they got a mess. But what was the 
result ? Ttie gentleman told the writer that not less, it seemed 
to him, than a four-horse wagon load of fine trout and perch 
were soon after found dead and floating on the water of the 
pond — and I think it likely that several millions of fish are 
destroyed in this State every Saturday during the summer, and 
were it not for the fact that we have the most lovely streams 
that (lod ever made, of which we have any knowledge, for 
fish, they would have besn utterly drained before now, and 
would only be thought of as hog wallows. 

The State is admirably situated as to rivers, creeks and 
branches, being for the most part clear, cold, living streams, 
abounding with shoals and eddies, having current enoug-i to 
keep them pure, with rocky or gravelly bottoms; and here I will 
state, for the information of those who have not thought on the 
fcubject, that the game-fish, as they are called, will not prosper 
where there is no sand or gravel for them to scour their sides 
against. So those who make fish ponds, if there is no rock at 
the bottom or sides of them, will have to haul some and put into 
their ponds. Cats and eels will do with a mud bottom, but jack, 
2 



18 

trout and perch need the sand or gravel. In addition to the favor- 
able bottoms of our streams, they are genersUy well shaded, which 
serves the double purpose of protecting the fish from the heat of 
the sun, as v/e\\ as furnishing food from the bugs and worms that 
fall continually from their branches. Were we properly pro- 
tected, — protected alone from the destruction, not from the use 
of fish, for they would be so abundant that we could not eat 
them up, — our streams would soon be the praise and ornament 
of the State. While on the other hand, we are so far f,'om the 
Gulf that if our streams were completely cleared of fish, I do 
not know that they would return again in a century, particu- 
larly what we regard as resident fish. 

I shall in my next point out the course which I think ought to 
be taken, together with the modes of fishing which ought to be 
resorted to. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE RETvIEDY HOW SHALL WE CATCH FISH? 

I PROMISED in my last number that I would in my next give 
my views with respect to what ought to be done for the protec- 
tion of fish, which is as follows: Let the Legislature pass a law 
prohibiting fish-traps, and seining in all streams that are not 
conridered navigable. Let the dip-net be entirely prohibited. 
Prohibit, also, the use of the rack, bush-drag, a,nd set-net, and 
all kinds of poisoning for the purpose of killing fish. The 
manufacture of domestic or any kind of cloth where dyes are 
used, or paper mills, will have to be exceptions : as these estal>- 
lishments are indispensable and of public utility, they must be 
allowed. The poi;;onous dyes from the dye-tub, or the vitriol 
and other minerals fi-om the waste-tub, do not affect the streams 
below to any great distance, and even if they did they would 
still have to be allov/ed. Now, it may be that persons may be 
found who are sufficiently selfish to wish some of these practi- 
ces allow^ed. For instance, a man ow^ning both sides of a small 
stream may complain that his rights are infringed upon, because 
he is not allowed t.) put in a fish trap ; but let him remember 
that the trap is a draft on all the fish in the stream, and he has 
no more right to all the fish in the creek than he has to all the 
air a,nd sunshine in the neighborhood, and the bare fact that he 
has it in his power to have a fish-trap should not even tempt 
him to appropriate all the fish to his own purposes, or at least 



19 

as many of them as he want?, and leave the balance to mink?, 
muskrate and racoons. Keep out the trap, and let the fish freel}' 
pass up and down, and multiply, and there will soon be enough 
for all. 

With respect to the other modes of destruction,! think, with 
one consent, the whole community will say, away with seines, 
racks, dip-nets and bush-drags ; but it may be that some may 
gtill desire to have the privilege of setting in the mouths of 
creeks set-nets. I have said all I care to saj' on this subject 
elsewhere, and I think any reasonable man will see at once the 
impropriety, not to say the injustice, of an}' such contrivances. 
Let them be prohibited by all means. 

The question now comes up, how shall we catch fish? for, 
as catching is before hanging, so it is before cooking. In an- 
swer, I would say, the most effectual mode is the trot - line ; next, 
the angler's method, the rod and line ; next, gigging, shooting 
and cane and spike, and seining in navigable streams. The 
method of angling embraces what is called bottom-fishing, fly- 
fishing and the bobs. I do not like the cane and spike, from the 
fact that they catch but little else than the parent fish in the 
raising season ; but as they can do nothing but in clear and 
shallow water, they are not much to be dreaded. The gig is 
objectionable on the ground that they kill and leave more than 
they catch, and alarm and drive out the fish into larger streams; 
but the gig can only be employed when the waters are clear, 
and the fish are not much reduced by them, as our waters are 
always milky and flush in the Spring and early part of Sum- 
mer, and the small fish always escape t'ne man with the gig. 
There is a method of snatching or grabbing, which is done by a 
cluster of hooks at the end of the line, which is thrown in 
among the fish while shoaling, as it is called, rather while the 
fish are cleaning their winter coat and polishing their .scales on 
the sand and gravel. This plan of fishing is not objectionable, 
from the fact that large fine fish are generally taken, and ihat 
too, while the fieh are in good condition, and before the raising 
season commences. 

Nature intended, no doubt, that in the main, and in all streams 
the fish should be taken with the hook, from the fact that they 
protect themselves during the raiding season by refusing to bite, 
so that the angler or trot-line fisherman never can destroy the 
fish. 

But it is objected by some that quite a number of the fish 
will not bite. That is a great mistake. There is not a f s'l in 
our waters but may be taken with a book and line — not one. 
The cat will bite at almost everything. The jack, trout, salmon, 
andall the varieties of the perch, will bite at a live branch n:in- 



20 

now. The buffalo will bite at a mush bait. The drum will bite at 
a muscle, craw-fish or worm. The red-horse, and the varieties 
of sucker, M'ill bite at a worrn, while in lake or clear streams, 
the bass or trout will rise to the fly. The fact is, that fish are 
general in their food, and will eat almost anything that any- 
thing else will eat, even to frogs and snakes. 

These methods of fishing may be followed v/ithout exposure, 
and the fish taken are generally of good size, and at proper 
seasons of the year. The outfit cost but little. The boy, the 
son of a poor widow, can get a dozen hooks for a dime, get 
him a cotton string for a line, a pebble for his sinker, a hazel 
switch for a rod, and dig him a gourd of worms. Thus an outfit of 
two cents will enable him to supply his mother with savory fish. 
It is the aliment of the poor, food furnished by the Almighty for 
his creatures. It ought not to be destroyed, abused, or made a 
monopol}'. Let the destructive methods be prohibited, and 
then the fish will soon become abundant, and these quiet and 
innocfcnt methods that I have mentioned will give to every man. 
rich and poor, fish when wanted. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE PROTECTION OF GAME - — THE DEER THE FOX THE BEAR 

THE RACCOON THE RABBIT THE SQUIRREL, &C. 

Having said all that I wish to say at present on the subject 
of fish, I shall now direct the attention of the reader to the 
protection of game in a more proper sense. 

Our State is well suited to the production and multiplication 
of several kinds of game, among animals and birds, having a 
full proportion of mountains and forest, with an abundant sup- 
ply of water and food for them, so that with a very slight 
protection, game would soon become abundant. 

The larger game, such as buffalo and elk, are already gone, 
and are to be found only on the frontier, and bear are f^nly to 
be found in a few counties of the State, and I do not think that 
any- thing could be done to protect them. Neither do I think 
they are of sufficient value to deserve protection ; for the ob- 
ject is to have protection only with a A'iew to benefit the 
masses. Deer are less inclined to fly before the sound of the 
woodman, and are yet to be found in almost every county in 
the State, or, at least, in a large portion of the State, and as 



21 

the undergrowth is growing up in the timber portions of the 
country, it is the belief of tlie knowing ones on the subject, 
that in despite of the efforts which are continually being made 
to drive them off and kill them up, still th-^y are, in some sec- 
tions, on the increase. Could the good people of Tennessee 
get their consent to discontinue the practice of running the 
deer with dogs, they would multiply rapidly, and would cease 
to migrate, and soon become numerous. The still hunter 
would not be able to drive them out. They ought, by all 
means, to be protected, by law, in the raising season, and if 
those who have dogs would only consent to chase the fox for 
a while with their dogs, we would soon have in our mountain 
and hill portions, and, in fact, in all our unsettled sections, 
deer in abundance. 

The fox needs no protection. The fox-hunter does not wish 
to destroy, but only to chase his game, and if they were all 
destroyed the public would not be much the worse for it. The 
flesh is not fit for the table, and the promise of profit from 
their fur is very slight; they are only useful in furnishing sport 
for a portion of our citizens, and as the sportsmen do not des- 
troy them when they can avoid it, 1 think the fox does not 
require any prelection by law\ 

The raccoon and oppossum are of more value than the fox. 
They deserve more attention at our hands, and yet we do not 
think any legislation necessary in their case, as they are both 
so utterly worthless in the raising season that no one, not even 
the most h'mgry negro, ever thinks of killinsj: them during that 
time; and on that account, I am inclined to the opinion that 
they aie rapidly on the increase throughout the country ; so 
that at present, with a good dog, a frosty night, and a skirt of 
woods, you can have fine sport. In regard to these animals 
we need no protection. 

The rabbit of our country is becoming quite an object. 
Some object to them because of their fondness for cabbage 
and the bark of young trees in hard weather, but all you 
ought to do is to tie some cornstalks around your young trees 
in winter, and put a scare crow near your plant bed in spring, 
and the rabbit will do you no harm, and will furnish you any 
amount of sport for men and boys in the winter; in fact, I do 
not see how the boys could do without them — and a young, fat 
rabbit, well prepared, is good for food any winter morning. 
But the rabbit in the raising season is so utterly mean and 
contemptible, that no well raised dog will run them at that 
time, so that they need no protection by law. 

The squirrels, which were once common to our forests, 
are rapidly disappearing. A general war has been kept up 



22 

against them in this country until a man may now travel a 
whole day through our forests and not see one, where there 
used to be one for every tree. The squirrel is not only good 
for food, but highly ornamental. The groves in and near to 
the Eastern Cities, from which the squirrel had for many years 
been driven or killed out, are now being re-supplied at con- 
siderable cost and trouble. Had I a grove of ten acres about 
my house, with ten squirrels in it, I would not lake ten dollars 
a piece for them. A squirrel is a semi-domestic animal, and if 
let alone, and a little cared for by man, they would soon 
become tame. Let the old shot guns be turned another way, 
and keep the dogs off of them for awhile, and your groves 
would again be vocal with their barking. They are an ex- 
ceedingly neat, beautiful and sprightly anim-al, and it would 
cure a fit of blues any time to see a family of them at play in 
the trees in your yard. 1 do not thirds that there ought lo be 
any more squirrels killed for the next ten years, and not then 
inside of any inclosure, unless by the consent of the proprie- 
tor. They are a resident animal, and never move unless they 
move en masse, and that to a considerable distance. What is 
more provoking than for some worthless, lazy fellow, who will 
not work, to come with his old shot gun, and tear a mother 
squirrel all in pieces, when she is just building her nest, after 
you have been feeding her all winter with your hogs, and have 
been promising yourself the pleasure of having half a dozen 
young ones soon racing through your groves and grounds; and 
all for a single dime: for after her skin is torn off and thrown 
to the dogs, ten cents is all that the carcess will fetch in the 
market. Squirrels ought not longer be thought of as food, but 
as an ornament to our groves. Let them be protected at any 
rate in the spring and summer. 

I shall take up our fowls and birds in my next. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE EIKDS 0? OUR STATE ^THE NECESSITY OF PROTECTING THEM 

THEIR USES AND BEAUTY. 

J PROMISED in my last to treat in this number of the protec- 
tion of birds. 

The persons who are the settlers of nev/ countries are apt to 
look upon the timber and game as superabundant, and take 



23 

care of neither, so that they slay the timber and make war 
upon the game as though the supply was inexhaustible. This 
course of conduct is generally kept up until shade and timber 
become scarce, and the game all gone. The evil is at last dis- 
covered, but not until too late. Groves have to be planted, 
shade has to be grown, and game, if they ha.ve any, has to be 
imported in order to bring the country back again to its original 
state of beauty and loveliness. 

The findings that determine the squatter with regard to the 
spot ivhere he should build, you will find in the main to have 
been about as follows : First, a spring; next, round, straight logs, 
suitable to build a cabin, together with an oak that would make 
boards and poplar that he could split into puncheons. Where 
these things could be found in such a relation to each other as 
not to require much hauling, that was the spot for the house, no 
matter whether in the bottom, on the hiil-sitie, or at the top ; no 
thought with respect to garden, orchards and grounds in a 
proper relation to the house ever entered his head. Just a.s 
soon as the cabin was built the next thing was to cut down all 
the trees, great and small, that were within a tree's length of 
the house. The next thing was to clear a field, which was lo- 
cated where it could be accom(ilished with the least labor, no 
matter if it embraced the best building site in all the country 
round ; so that, at present, thousands of locations are to be 
found in the country now which would be invaluable if the na- 
tive forest trees were only on them; but at present they are 
barrren, sunburnt elevations, shade and soil gone and wajlied 
into gullies, and almoj^t wastes. Butstill we have some groves 
of timber left, but not often near the spring, and a more beauti- 
ful forest is not to be found in the world than Tennessee 
affords. The only thing to be complained of is that so much of 
it should have been unnecessarily destroyed. To those who 
have groves of living, native trees, my advice is, take care of 
them, cut not a living tree while you can find a dead one that 
will answer the purpose. Burn up the old logs for fire-wood, 
take up the stumps out of your ground, and when exposed to 
the sun and air a few weeks they will make good and lasting 
fires; for no tree that you will ever be able to grow will be equal 
in beauty and interest to the native forest tree. 

But the protection of your groves to a considerable extent 
depends upon the protection of the birds, who are the safe- 
guards of the forest. Worms are the natural enemies of tie 
trees and vegetation generally, and the birds are the enemiea 
of the worms ; audit is with gratitude to Almighty God that 
we comtemplate this provision, for while the birds are serving 
us efficiently by destroying the loathsome worm that would 



24 

ultimately poison the tree, the bird itself is an object of inter- 
est and highly ornamental. 

It is not at all uncommon for persons wholly to mistake the 
birds in their feeding process, taking it for granted that they 
are appropriating something that is valuable to themselves, 
because they are found in its neighborhood, when, if properly 
understood, they are found to be feeding on some worm or in- 
sect which is seeking to destroy that which is intended for the 
food of man. Take, for instance, a case in point. A gentle- 
man went to his neighbor to obtain the loan of his gun, as he 
said, to kill some birds that were eating up his wheat. The 
neighbor said he had no objection to the loan of his gun, but that 
he seriously objected to the birds being killed,and insisted that the 
birds were doing good instead of harm ; a controversy ensued 
between them with respect to the objects of the birds, till one 
was killed in order to determine the matter, and on examina- 
tion the bird had in its craw forty-two weave! and one defective 
grain of wheat, which had been bored by a weavel. 

One of my neighbors said to me not long since that a certain 
kind of bird was eating up his bees ; but when the object of 
the bird was better understood it was found to be the moths 
that it was eating, which, but for the birds, would have de- 
stroyed his hive of bees. 

The birds that gather about the habitation of man are our 
friends, our servants, doing for us what we could not do for 
ourselves, and withal are exquisitely beautiful, and it is not 
only bad policy to kill them, but it is really cruel, not to say 
wicked ; and as there are persons who seem to take pleasure in 
destroying these little, lovely, delicate creatures, which God 
has given us to delight the eye and charm the ear, as well as to 
protect our forest, I want a law for the benetit of such persons, 
which will teach, them that which good sense and humanity has 
failed to teach them, which is, that they mus^t not kill and slay 
these creatures for the mere pleasure of killing, for they are of 
no value when dead. More of this in my next. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE SUBJECT CONTINUED BIRDS OF PREY SCAVENGER BIRDS 

BIRDS OF PLUMAGE AND OF SONG. 

I PROMISED in my last to continue the subject of the protec- 
tion of birds. I suppose the birds might be divided into four 



25 

classes, viz : Birds of Prey, Scavenger Birds, Birds for the bag 
or table, and Birds of plumage and song. 

The birds of prey are very few — the eagle, owl and hawk. 
The eagle, especially the Wa^^hington eagle, while I might be 
inclined to capture them if I could, yet I would not think of 
killing them, because of their national character. Yet I would 
not ask any protection for any bird of prey. So you may kill 
all the owls and hawks that you can find. 

The scavenger birds ought by all means to be protected, par- 
ticularly the carrion birds, such as buzzards, ravens and carrion 
crows. It may be objected that the raven is a great offender, 
and ought not live; but when we remember how industriously 
and effectually they relieve us of that which is so offensive, his 
slight misdemeanors ought to be borne with. So that, by all 
means, let the scavengers live ; for while they are filth them- 
selves, they purify the earth. 

It is worthy of note, that in the arrangements of a wise pro- 
vidence, the class of small birds that gather about the habita- 
tion of man, though for the greater part scavengers, yet they 
are by no means offensive to man, but, to the contrary, very 
pleasant to the eye or ear, or both, and everyway ornamental. 
1 shall not attempt to notice by name all the birds of this class, 
but it may be proper that I should notice a few of them, and 
will take up the most unpopular of this class first, viz: the 
wood-pecker. I do not ^^uppose that this bird has many friends. 
The bare fact that they like cherries and apples, and pick into 
an ear of corn occasionally, has put every body against them, 
and withal their name does not do them any good ; but after all 
they are beautiful, serviceable birds. Now give up f )r a mo- 
ment your prejudices, and take another look at the old familiar 
bird, who was in some sort the companion of your youth. Look 
at his white breeches, his blue coat and red cap. He looks like 
a militia captain ; and remember that for every cherry that he 
has taken he has killed fifty worms, one hundred bugs, and five 
hundred fiies ; and who knows but he caught and killed the 
very \vorm which would have killed the cherry tree from which 
he took the cherriee. He has a loud, shrill, cheerful whistle, 
which makes one think of boyhood and youth; and notwith- 
standing they are a little shame-faced, and hop around the limb 
when looked at too closely, yet they are semi-domestic, and 
have a fondness for the habitation of man ; and if I should fail 
to get protection for them, I would ju.st say to all concerned, 
kill your own wood-peckers and let mine alone. 

The sap-sucker and yellow-hammer belong to the scavenger 
class, and do much in the way of protecting trees, and ought 
not to be killed at any season of the year, as they are not; at all 



26 

suitable for food, and are utterly worthless, even offensive when 
killed. The same is true of almost the entire list of singers, 
the mocking-bird, the thrush, the red-bird, the jay and cat-bird, 
as well as the wren and sparrow. The snov/-bird is an excep- 
tion, and needs no protection; they do not raise in this country, 
and are jiood for food, and the boys may trap them and wel- 
come. But those birds mentioned above make almost no flesh ; 
they feed mainly on files and worms, which it seems are not at 
all nutritious. It may be said of them that they are always 
poor, and there is not one of the small birds of our country of 
the scavenger, or plumage, or singing classes, that ought to be 
killed ; they are all useful or ornamental, or both Let them be 
protected. No ornamental tree is complete without a bird in 
its branches ; a,nd where can you find a country home with 
finished charms without the singing of birds ? The water-fail 
may be there ; the carpet of grass may cover the ground ; the 
beauteous shade of the noble oak and elm may be throw^n 
around, but should no bird be seen or heard, one of the chief 
objects of attraction would be wanting. Were an artist to 
paint a landscape view without birds in the groves, he would 
sin against the art. Bless the birds — do not let the bad boys 
kill them. 



CHAPTER XIII 



THE GOOSE AND DUCK THE TURKEY- THE PARTEIDGE, &C. 

In my last I directed the attention of the public, mainly to 
the necessity of protecting scavenger birds, in which I em- 
braced birds of song and plumage ; though I shall likely, 
before I am through with this subject, have something more to 
say with respect to the singing pirds especially. 

We will now devote a few lines to the class of birds, about 
which the sportsman feels a deep interest, as to the goose and 
duck. I do not think any thing can be done that will in any 
way be protective. They are birds of passage to some extent, 
and do not belong to the class that need protection. The wild 
turkey, although they raise among us, need no protection, as 
they are but seldom hunted in the raising season, and if they 
were it would be generally without success, as the parent bird 
is so very secretive during the raising season, that it is next to 
impossible to find her nest, and she is but seldom seen until 



2T 

the young brood is pretty well grown. From these facts, I 
would not be inclined to ask any protection for the wild tur- 
key. It is not my wish to ask for any thing which will not 
address itself to the good sense of the people generally. The 
dove, field-lark and partridge, or quail, with an occasional 
snipe and pheasant, make up pretty much the list of our birds 
suitable lor the bag or table. 

The dove increases but slowly, and does not promise ever to 
become very abundant; yet if they were protected in the 
raising season, there would be, no doubt, an astonishing in- 
crease. The dove makes considerable flesh, which is, by 
s.tme, regarded as excellent food ; but the fact that they are 
remarkable for their innocence, and proverbial for their harm- 
lessness, together with their melanchoHy, lonely cooing, has 
ever been a suflicient protection for me, for 1 have the first one 
yet to kill ; but those who love to kill, just for the sake of kill- 
ing, have no such feelings. The dove is decidedly sexolized, 
and makes its home about the habitation of man, and during 
the spring and early summer is very gentle, and unless pro- 
tected by law, would be always in danger. Let them be pro- 
tected during the spring and summer. 

The partridge is our main dependence in Tennessee, being 
common to all parts of the State, and very prolific. If they 
were properly protected they would soon become very abun- 
dant. As the cultivation of small grain and grasses is on the 
incr<*ase, in our country, which is conducive to the prosperity 
of this bird, together with the fact that our climate is perfectly 
suited to them, if they were properly cared for they would 
socn be very numerous ; but there are, in almost every neigh- 
borhood, idle boys and worthless persons to be found, who 
would rather walk about with a gun on their shoulder than go 
to work, and, in the neighborhood of towns and cities, we find 
individuals who makr; a business of scouring the country, par- 
ticularly on the Sabbath day, killing all the birds of every 
kind that come in their way. From all such persons the par- 
tridge is very much exposed during the raising season, for such 
are the habits of this bird that, unless protected, they are in 
constant danger ; if both parent birds would keep down in the 
grass and remain silent there would be more hope of them; 
but while one is upon the nest warming the eggs, the other is 
sure to take its position upon the fence cr a stump, and that it 
may be sure to attract the attention of every body, keeps up a 
continual whistling, so that they are certain almost to be found 
and killed. They ought, by all means, to be protected at this 
period. In fact, no person ought to be allowed to kill a par- 
tridge during the spring and summer months. 



28 

With respect to the propriety of netting partridges, it seems 
to ms that no man ought to be allowed to net partridges in 
another man's enclosure, without the consent of the proprie- 
tor. It does not look fair and right, after 1 have raised on my 
own grain a dozen flocks of birds, for an interloper to come on 
some rainy day and drive them all into his net, and put them 
in a bag and take them off, either to devour himself or sell 
to the keeper of an eating house. Were he to come with his 
dog and gun and kill one or two out of eacli flock, I could bear 
with him, but for a whole year's supply to be caught and borne 
off in a single day, is tuo bad. My pUin would be to put 
down the nets altogether, and then the little boys would have 
some sport with their traps. And with a fowUng piece two or 
three might be taken when wanted, and in this way the par- 
tridge would soon become numerous, and might be regarded 
as part of the poultry of the country. 



CHAPTEIl XIV. * 

BIRDS OF SONG AND PLUMAGE. 

I PROMISED to direct the attention of the reader again to birds 
of song and plumage. 

This class of birds should excite the tender regard of every 
human being, from several considerations. 

In the first place, they are perfectly harmless, while at the 
same time they are very useful, from the fact that they prey 
continually on worms and all kinds cf insects, and consequently 
do much in protecting grains and all kinds of vegetation from 
their ravages. Any man, if he will for one hour observe the 
character of the food that the parent bird brings to her young, 
cannot but be impressed with the utility of this class of birds. 
The grass-hopper, caterpillar, grub-worm, cut-worms, and in 
fact every description of worm is brought by the old bird to the 
nest for the young. But their usefulness is not all that is in 
their favor; their cheerful industry is inspiring and instructive. 
"While they are beautilul to look upon, when hopping from limb 
to limb and from bough to bough, or swimming round on the 
wing, or alighting in the yard, and noiselessly passing to and 
fro, gathering up every little decaying morsel of food that has 
fallen about the house, which, if let alone, would but tend in 
its decay to poison the air ; yet their usefulness and beauty is 



29 

not all. They charm you with their music. What is there in 
nature which will soothe and cheer the heart more than the 
singin;:^ of birds ? They beautify our grounds, they serve us 
very efficiently and sing for us mo.-^t sweetly, and have a won- 
derful fondness for the habitation of man. And when I see 
loose boys and worthless laz}^ fellows shooting down the mock- 
ing-bird, jay, thrush, cat-bird and other small birds, it is abso- 
lutely provoking, and I have confidence to believe that the Leg- 
islamrc will protect tliem. 

Since I have been writing these numbers, I find that I have 
touched on a subject that has been thought about by a large 
portion of our citizens — the catching of fish with seines and 
traps, and killing birds of plumage and song is everywhere 
complained against, and I find quite a number of persons who 
desire protection for quite a number of animals and birds 
which I have not embraced, though I have succeeded in con- 
vincing, I may say, all who have spoken to me on the subject, 
that I have asked for protection in every instance where protec- 
tion was really called for. 

The mode of protection which will have to be resorted to in 
the event that the Legislature fails to pass some general law, 
I do not admire — which is the posting of grounds and s'reama, 
which would lead to the creation of privileged classes in the 
way of sport. I want every man, whether he owns a stream 
of water or not, and those who may not possess one foot of 
land, to have rights wiih regard to fish and game generally; 
but 1 do not want any man to have the right to kill that which 
in the first place, does not belong to him, unless it v.'ould do 
him harm while living, or be of some service to him when dead. 
The birds which I am defending in this number are of this 
class, lor, to say the least of them, they do no harm while liv- 
ing, and are of no manner of service when dead. 

The mocking-bird, which is common to our country, would 
soon become a great ornament if they were permitted to live ; 
but notwithstanding they are not fit to eat and are singers of 
great value, yet they are as likely to be torn in pieces by the 
shot of some silly, wicked person as any other bird. A gen- 
tleman in the neighborhood of the ciiy told me that he believed 
that not less than twenty had been dispatched in a grove of 
trees near his house during the summer, and to make the mat- 
ter worse, they had killed a caio which he would not have ta- 
ken seventy five dollars for. Let birds of song and plumage 
be protected at all seasons. God did not create them to be 
killed. 



80 



CHAPTER XY. 



CONCLUDING REJIARKS. 



I EAVE in the preceding numbers, hastily glanced at the gen- 
eral subject, though there are many animals and birds that 1 
have not noticed. The fur growing animals I have not noticed, 
from the fact that we have but few of them in Tennessee, and 
those that we have do not need protection. Otters are still 
more rare. We have a few muskrats, minks and weasels ; 
but they come under the general head of varmints, and conse- 
quently have but ie\w friends. Just kill and destro}^ all the minks 
and weasels you can find. Panthers, wolves and wild-cats are 
the enemies of man, and ought to be killed, and their scalps 
ought to be worth ^ premvim. 

The deer and squirrel are the only animals t!iat we ask pro- 
tection for. The balance either need no protection, or from 
their peculiar character, protect themselves. The deer, we 
think, ought not to be killed in the spring or summer months. 
And we we are decidedly of opinion that dogs ought not to be 
used in hunting them, unless for the purpose of trailing a wound- 
ed deer. Dogs only contribute to success where deer are so 
scarce that they ought not to be hunted at all; a; d where deer 
are plenty, they serve mainly to distract the deer and drive 
them out of their range. Keep off the dogs, and let the deer 
become abundant, and the still hunter will be able to find game 
without driving them all out of the country. 

With respect to the squirrel, I suppose that there are a fev/ 
points or sections of country where they are sufiiciently abun- 
dant to render them somevvhat troublesome in taking up the 
early corn, though 1 think such places very rare, while from a 
large portion of our State this very interesting little animal has 
disappeared altogether. Let us by all means have protection 
for the fquirrei in the raising sea.-on. I think they ought lo be 
regarded as ornamental, and therefore be protected at all sea- 
sons. 

The wild turkey, iY\e, goose, and duck need no protection. 

The pheasant is so nearly exhausted, that we do not think 
any thing can be done for them. 

The birds suitable for the table, comprise a very small class. 
T\i% pigeon, snipe, Jicld-lark, dove and partridge. . 



'A^^^. 



31 

The dove and partridge onght by al! means to be protected. 
The scavenger birds and birda of song and phamage, ail should 
be protected — which embraces all bird^, except the ow , haiok, 
crow and blackbird. These birds are looked upon as great sin- 
ners, and I suppose that nothing ought to be done for them. 

Let the birds of song and plumage, and the scavenger birds 
be protected at all seasons. Let the dove and partridge be 
protected in the raising season. Other birds and fowls suitable 
for the table, need no protection. 

As to the fish, let fish-traps, both the fall and finger traps, be 
put down, prohibit seines, except in navigable streams ; and 
the minnow net, for the purpose of catching bait in small 
branches ; aiso, prohibit the dip and set net, v.'ith all kinds of 
poisoning. 

I have, since these articles began to appear in the Uniox and 
American, received information from a great number of gentle- 
men from various portions of the State, and am happy to say 
thai the measures proposed are meeting with pretty general 
favor. The object is to make our country more interesting, to 
increase fish and game generally, and furnish our cii.izens with 
both food and amusement, which will contribute lo both the 
health and happiness of humanity. 

A LOVER OP NATURE- 



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NASHVILLE: 

G. C. TORBETT & CO., PRINTERS, 
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